Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the management of contacts at a contact center.
Description of Related Art
Contact center operators and administrators are continually trying to optimize the contact center experience for users (also referred to herein as customers or contacts). A perpetual problem is that of load balancing, i.e. ensuring that the resources of the contact center at any given time are optimized for the number of users connected to or trying to connect to the contact center. A balance has to be struck between the cost of supplying sufficient resources (agents, supervisors, servers, applications, available connection ports, etc.) and the acceptable wait times for users of the contact center.
In many scenarios, the load is not constant and fluctuates significantly between quiet times and busy times. At busy times the users are likely to experience longer queue times and this may lead to users disconnecting due to excessive wait times.
The problem is exacerbated when users have multiple routes to access the contact center. It is common for users to attempt to generate several simultaneous contacts, e.g. by calling simultaneously from a landline, a mobile phone and a computer (using voice over IP (VoIP) applications) and to also connect to the contact center using instant messaging or web-based chat portals to the contact center. Users do this in the hopes of maximizing their chances for an early connection to an agent, e.g. by attempting to be placed multiple times in a queue for a scarce resource, such as a ticket agent, or by attempting to be placed in different queues each leading to an agent.
Such multiple connection attempts consume scarce resources of the contact center, as well as disadvantaging those other users who have made a single connection attempt. Such multiple connections also distort the activity levels of the contact center making it more difficult to gain an accurate picture of actual activity levels and requirements for servicing the contact center effectively.
Another important consideration for contact center operators and designers is to make the best possible use of resources such as human agents. This does not simply mean answering all calls as quickly as possible. There are inevitable trade-offs where any decision to devote additional attention to one contact is at the expense of other contacts, and thus it is desirable that such trade-offs are made with the best business interests of the contact center operator in mind. To this end, it would be advantageous to provide an improved way of deciding where to devote resources.
A further area of concern for contact center operators is to improve the experience of contacts who are unsuccessful in speaking to an agent and who abandon their attempts to do so before having been serviced. The abandonment of a call (or other contact attempt) is usually an indication of an unsatisfied customer, most frequently one who has been unable to reach an agent in an acceptable time and who has therefore not been satisfied at the time when the contact attempt is abandoned. It is of concern to businesses to leave such customers unsatisfied and it would be advantageous to improve the experience of such customers.